Kronenwetter Village Hall. MWC file photo.
KRONENWETTER, WI (WSAU) — Peter Kampfer will not be employed by the Village of Kronenwetter after all.
The Wausau native was named to the post in September 2023 but delayed his start date on two different occasions according to Village President Chris Voll. After recent conversations between them, they decided it was best to part ways.
“[Kampfer] provided us with one timeline that he though he could have things wrapped up by. But, that came and went,” said Voll. “Then he provided another date that he thought he could have it cleared up by and then that date came and went as well.”
Voll says the issues centered around a legal fight involving his current employer, who was trying to separate themselves from a local utility. When the situation wasn’t clearing itself up, Voll and Kampfer decided it was best to cut bait.
“He really couldn’t give me a firm date of when things would be wrapped up,” said Voll.
But Voll is confident that this time the position won’t stay vacant for months on end, as it has since July 2022 when the Village parted ways with Richard Downey. Current Public Works Director Leonard Ludi is interested in stepping up to the position and has an interview scheduled with the Village Board for next Monday. If all goes well, he could receive an offer of employment the next day during a meeting of the Administrative Policy Committee.
Voll says if that plan doesn’t work out for one reason or another then they will likely have to go back to finding an interim Administrator while launching a national search. But he is hopeful that Ludi could be fit for the job and provide the Village with some much-needed stability.
“Once we can turn this corner and get an Administrator to bring the group together, I mean we have a great staff as it is but we are just missing that one piece. Once we get that set in stone we can get back to focusing on doing some of those great things that we want to do in the village,” said Voll.
A handful of people held the interim Administrator tag since Downey’s departure including Police Chief Terry McHugh, former Plover Administrator Dan Mahoney, and Duane Gau.
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